Category Archives: Literature

Review, To Kill a Mockingbird by Gethin Llewellyn

“You can shoot all the blue jays you want but it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. A metaphor that you won’t understand unless you read To Kill a Mockingbird. The author of this novel is Harper Lee who was born on the 28th of April 1926. This is the only novel she ever wrote among a few fictional tales. No one ever truly understood why Harper Lee never wrote another novel. In this tale of 1930s America in the county of Alabama a father and his two children.Aticuss being the father Jem being the eldest child and Scout (Jems little sister).This tale may sound like a relaxing one but it will have you on the edge of your seat following the antics of the children on their quest to make “Boo Radley”come out. Experience what it was like growing up in these dark times through the eyes of a child. She thought it was a good idea to show what it was like growing up in a period of racism and segregation.

When Atticus is forced to defend a black man in court everything slowly starts to fall apart for him and his children.

The book has definitely faced the test of time it was released in 1960 and is still being sold all around the world in that time over 30,000,000 copies have been sold. In 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird was on the bestseller list for 88 weeks and then Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize. As the book looks at an extremely sensitive subject the fun of life still shows because it is being seen through the eyes of a child. In my opinion the book is extremely enjoyable because there are two sides to it.Because in the first part it shows the antics of the children and the games they play. I think these scenes are really uplifting considering the events that are going on around them. Though as every book does it has a dark side. At certain points I felt really frustrated about the level of racism shown in the book which is proven through some of the characters.

When you pick up this book you will not be able to put it down and when you’ve finished it you will be wanting more. As all points have been covered I give this magnificent book an 8/10.Amazing plot, characters you will fall in love with but in my opinion I think they should have tried to reach for a wider audience. I understand it may be difficult to try and reach for a younger age using such a sensitive subject (racism).I understand it may be difficult for them to understand but let’s face it their starting them younger and younger today, So in my opinion I think they should teach children about this book earlier than they do because they are missing out. (So is anyone else who hasn’t read this book).That’s my opinion and you know what they say whether it’s a book film or play nothings perfect. And no matter how good it is there’s always room for improvement.